Tuesday , March 19 2024

The left has hijacked the green movement, but conservatives are the real conservationists – it’s in the name

Twenty-nineteen was the year when people decided they care about climate change and the environment. Or at least they made sure to be seen saying they did.

But words are cheap when they fall short of action.

Remember seeing left-wing activist group Extinction Rebellion carry out long-drawn protests in London. Along the way, 17 year-old Greta Thunberg was the frequent subject of chatter during her transatlantic travels, delivering ballsy speeches in which she demanded Western governments make radical policies to reduce carbon emissions. And of course, let’s give a shoutout to those stunning and brave Golden Globe winners more recently. They really understand how much we need their opinions so that we can respond by tweeting a few “yasss queen”s and give them the credit they deserve for wearing a garment more than once.

So why is a life-long conservationist critical of those who have made caring about the environment so trendy?

Because for all the media coverage and discussion, they’ve achieved nothing. In fact, they’ve made things worse.

Environmentalism has been hijacked by the left.

Whether used by celebrities for publicity and popularity or by leftists to further their political reach, an issue that comes natural to the hearts of conservatives is now something remote to their priorities, something that moderates and conservatives have no time for. This can be seen from the attitudes of people who boast about their diesel-guzzlers and share memes mocking Ms Thunberg.

And there’s a common tendency to want to roll your eyes when you hear the words “climate change” in the news.

Because through outspoken acts of brazen hypocrisy from the likes of celebrities who express their concerns over carbon emissions while travelling via private jets to tell us not to fly, the case for environmentalism is cheapened.

It would be easy to feel sympathy for woke left-wing climate change activists if they practised what they preached. Or if they didn’t use climate change to indirectly promote the socialist ideal of “big government” – a message that governments are responsible for our actions as individuals and that without government policies, we can’t make a difference.

If they used as much energy that they spend lecturing others on social media or pointlessly blocking commuters through days of protests, instead of planting trees, volunteering to clean the streets or lobbying local authorities to allow more wild flower meadows to grow in our towns, the difference they’d make would be enormous.

But they don’t. And that’s when you have to question their sincerity and motives.

Though not completely disputing their passion for environmentalism, why aren’t the Gretas of the world talking about conservation?
Air, land and sea pollution?
Deforestation?
Native endangered wildlife?
Green spaces, urban sprawl and the greenbelt (problems that the left either denies or shys away from)?

These undeniable problems are detrimental to our quality of life but are problems that we as individuals can lessen if we take individual responsibility with actions instead of words. Whether you believe that climate change is simply nature, far bigger than anything man could be capable of, or if you passionately believe the evidence that trapped greenhouse gases are responsible.

The global decline of insects is at an alarming rate. Pollinators, such as butterflies, beetles and bees have declined by 53 per cent, 49 per cent and 46 per cent respectively in the past decade alone. Meanwhile, forest cover in the United Kingdom is at 13 per cent – one of the lowest levels in Europe. These are all things that should naturally matter to conservatives.

We should resist the fickle urge to encourage mockery of environmentalism when just to rebel against eco-warrior culture. We need to find our roots.

So I’m inviting you to follow the Orthodox Conservatives – a pressure group of social conservatives determined to protect and conserve the things that make our United Kingdom beautiful.

Because our country is more than just a functioning economy. We don’t live to work or to make money. And we don’t need to rely on a big government to change our culture and attitudes towards our environment.

Follow @OrthodoxConsGrp on Twitter and become a member.

About Alisha Rose

Alisha is a journalist, business owner and Conservative Party member from the North East of England. She is motivated by her wish to create a society in which diversity of thought is encouraged - not rejected. She seeks to encourage an optimistic, patriotic national mood and attitude in which we love and protect all that’s beautiful about our country: our natural landscapes, wildlife, architecture, traditions, culture, communities, native dialects and languages, and our British values.

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One comment

  1. Well said. It is our ecological footprint that should be of greatest concern. The key action to reduce this in the UK is to reduce net migration. It is that simple. All of our population growth of 500,000 a year, a city’s worth of people every year, is due to migrants and the children of migrants. This is not racism, it is just the truth about living on an overcrowded island. Cutting population growth will also reduce our carbon footprint by about 15% by 2030 when infrastructure growth to house the new population is included.